Gotham
by Anime Monster
Summary: Subject has no recorded name, alias listed as The Joker." Dr. Young "Is this another one of those boring psyche evaluation tests?" Joker. "No, it's not." Dr. Young, Batman: Arkham Asylum. One-Shot


Disclaimer: I do not own Batman and make no money off of this.

Author's Note: I felt it prudent to state a secondary "disclaimer" here: I do not like The Joker. Okay, I said it. He's my least favorite Batman villain (and one of my least favorite characters of all time, I think Saix from _Kingdom Hearts_, DiZ from _Kingdom Hearts_, Apophis from _Stargate SG-1_, and Albus Dumbledore from _Harry Potter_ are the only ones that beat him, and that's a small margin). That being said, I think the reason I dislike him so much is that he infects the brain and makes one think about him. I dislike being forced to do anything. Anyways, here's a story idea that came to me recently.

Summary: "Subject has no recorded name, alias listed as The Joker." Dr. Young "Is this another one of those boring psyche evaluation tests?" Joker. "No, it's not." Dr. Young, _Batman: Arkham Asylum_.

_**Gotham**_

There was something about Gotham. Superman summed it up best, "I'm not particularly fond of Gotham. It's like someone built a nightmare out of metal and stone." Truly Gotham was a nightmare of a city with architecture that looked to be out of H. P. Lovecraft and a spirit that was truly something to be feared. And indeed, Gotham had every reason to fear when Dr. Jonathan Crane could walk into a bank and dose everyone with fear toxin before stealing millions. But Gotham had a reason to hope, a reason that seemed bleaker and bleaker as the years went on and more, stronger criminals took the place of the mob bosses.

Gotham's spirit was a cesspool and no matter how much you tried to cover it up and clean it up, a cesspool is always a cesspool. The Waynes had attempted to clean up the city financially and Batman and Jim Gordon tried to clean up the criminal elements. However, Gotham's spirit never seemed to change. A permanent night seemed to shroud the city even in the brightest daylight.

It was out of this cesspool a monster was formed. He may have once been a small time criminal using the Red Hood identity to steal from Ace Chemical Processing only to have a mishap and fall into a vat of chemicals that bleached his skin and turned his hair green. It may have been Axis Chemicals that had the vat. Or maybe he was just born that way. He may have once been named Joe Kerr or Jack Napier or had no name at all. He doesn't even remember. How can one be cured of insanity that they don't even know the cause of?

What is always true is that his earliest true memory is waking up in a chemical wasteland with bleached skin and green hair. Gotham was his womb and it was Gotham who was his mother. He saw Gotham's need for laughter and saw the true image of Gotham. No matter how many fresh coats of paint were used, Joker saw that everything remained the same underneath. Batman may try to change Gotham by throwing the criminals into Blackgate or Arkham, but Joker knew that the only way to change Gotham was to totally destroy it and rebuild it.

It was never about money or women or zombies or any of a numerous other things. It was about change. Everything was about change and showing Batman his point of view for Joker knew if he could convince Batman then all of his plans would be successful.

It's easy to construct a lie when you don't have anything to contradict it. It's easy to get people to believe that lie when you can't even tell if it's a fact or a fiction.

"My father was a cop."

"I always wanted to join the circus, but my father wouldn't let me."

"My father was a gangster."

"Joe Kerr, speed up the pronunciation I got Joker, the clown came after."

There were no consistency in the stories, and all had a way of contradicting themselves. None of them could be verified, either. There were no records for a Joe Kerr or a Jack Napier that fit The Joker's stories or were unaccounted for. His prints were not in the system prior to being apprehended the first time.

The truth of the matter is The Joker never existed before he woke up in the chemical waste able to see Gotham for the cesspool it is. Whoever he was before died, if he was anyone before, and that's the one thing the Arkham doctors never understand.


End file.
